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Seol Jihu
Seol Jihu, more commonly known as just Seol, is the main protagonist of The Second Coming of Gluttony. At the start of the story, Seol is a gambling addict, deep in debt and scorned by his family and ex-girlfriend. However, due to an opportunity granted to him by his past life, he obtained a second chance to set things right. He possesses the unique innate ability, Nine Eyes, which inadvertently caused his gambling addiction after its disappearance as a result of over-abusing the ability. However, experiencing a lucid dream about his past life, it once again reawakened, becoming a powerful ally on his long journey to redemption. Appearance Seol stands above the average height for a Korean male but otherwise possesses the typical outfit of light skin and black hair. He is generally described as being rather attractive. He also has a lean but muscular physique thanks to his diligent training. After exiting the Neutral Zone and returning to Earth, Yoo Seonhwa's three co-workers, who made it a habit to judge each potential suitor of Seonhwa's based on their attractiveness with notoriously high standards, gave him 27 out of 30 points; 10 for the body, 8 for the face and 9 for fashion sense, though the latter was organized by Kim Hannah rather than him. When Future Vision activates, Seol's eyes are commonly described as colored in an unsettlingly red hue. Personality "If you want to find out what a man is to the bottom, give him power. Any man can stand adversity—only a great man can stand prosperity." —Robert G. "Bob" Ingersoll, 1883 Initially, Seol Jihu was someone who could be described as dependable, sometimes mischevious, but a whole-heartedly well-natured person. However, he had a crippling weakness for gluttony (in the sense of overindulgence) and developed a fictitious sense of self-importance through and in his unique ability the Nine Eyes, which he believed made him special compared to everyone else. After losing Nine Eyes, Seol's character drastically took a turn for the worse. His arrogance nosedived into egotism before transforming into a victim mentality. He grew into a neurotic, crass individual, exploiting pity and compassion to continually cheat money out of his loved ones. When it came to defending his wrongdoings, he was quick to speak feelings over morals, morals over reason, and was easily angered when challenged. It was only after the several years of reality and emotions of sorrow and regret from his former life smacked Seol in the face, that the current Seol' received a wake-up call. Now agonizingly aware of his own sins and feeling intensely guilty, Seol began to strive to make amends whenever possible. After his experience in the Tutorial and Neutral Zone, Seol began to regain a shadow of his former self, now behaving in a far more polite and moderate manner to others and finally regained a sense of self-worth. Once again, after so long, he became able to freely speak of his given name, Jihu, without feeling embarrassed for doing so. While not necessarily a seeker of righteousness, Seol had a firm unwillingness to compromise, particularly for his own principles; choosing to uphold and defend them with an intense fierceness and determination, having thoroughly learned the lesson that he himself, was his own worst enemy and that it was a constant compromise that led him down his former path of self-destruction. Despite his continued positive growth, his awareness of his sins remained deeply cast over him and because of it, Seol felt an unexplainable sense of burden and discomfort when praised for his supposed kindness or amazing feats; quick to put down claims that he was a righteous, kind or even just a good person. Due to this insecurity in his self-esteem, Seol held great sentiment towards the concept of the Golden Rule; which he first became aware of from his Nine Eyes ability, coming to believe in the idea of responding to the goodwill of others with equal, if not more, goodwill. Without doing so, he was afraid he would no longer be worthy of their trust and would be abandoned by everyone else once more; therefore, having a tendency to strive unrelentingly towards his goals, repaying others, and becoming apologetic when unable to live up to their expectations. When it came to facing the issues of his family on Earth, Seol's stalwartness disappeared completely; a gap in character that Kim Hannah found almost baffling. He felt uncomfortable talking about it and often avoided the issue, displaying almost addictive-like traits to the world of Paradise when faced with the reality of rejection from his family and loved ones. It was this attachment to Paradise that drove Seol to carry great respect for the world and its citizens as well as to acquire his characteristic, almost inhuman, tenacity and willpower that even Jang Maldong had to concede to. Understanding that he was far inferior to those who praised him, Seol desperately strived to use the sheer quantity of hard work to overcome the gap he had in the quality of his talent; determined to accomplish his goals and tasks in the best manner possible. Ultimately, Seol believed and felt that Paradise was the only place where he really belonged; finding solace in being accepted and needed by others. In part, while decisive in action, Seol was generally unable to think outside of the box and come to his own judgments; commonly needing external influences, often in the form of advice, a reality check, or a signal from the Nine Eyes to push him in the right direction. In this way, his ability, including Future Vision, was often something he relied on than he used. Seol has yet to completely outgrow his naivety and, if emotionally out of control, may act in a manner that was overly hasty or rash and was, on occasion, unexpectedly immature to a degree contrary to what one would expect of his age. Not only did he love to get pampered and spoiled, not to mention being a glutton for good food, he was also incredibly mischievous; loving to tease his friends such as Claire Agnes and her unexpected choice of cute underwear or his repeated, unsavory pranks on Chung Chohong. History Former Life At a young age Seol discovered that he had a special ability, namely, when this ability activated, he saw the world in the green color. He still didn't know what this special ability was, but he knew that he was different from other children. One time when he was on a safari trip with his family, he saw a lion and got scared as that was the first thing that he ever saw with a color other than green. A unknown woman comforted him and told him that he had beautiful eyes in the colours of the rainbow, she also told him to visit her if he needed help in the future. As he grew older, he realized that his power could be of great help, so he began to experiment with it, in the Hope's of understanding it better. However as he grew a taste for the finer things in life, Seol began to drown in the ecstasy of materialism, abusing his ability more and more, slowly marking out the moment his life spiraled out of control. Once his ability disappeared as a result of over-abusing it and breaking his Magic Circuit, he began to gamble without restraint, believing that his ability would once again resurface, leading him to succumb to substance abuse and sunk-cost fallacy. As a result of his gambling addiction, his relationship with his family worsened to the point of being denounced by them. His girlfriend Yoo Seonhwa also ended up leaving him. After becoming agonizingly self-aware of the irreparable nature of his sins, Seol chose escapism, running away to the Lost Paradise with the desire to find somewhere he could belong, and perhaps, even more fleetingly, to find a way to atone for his sins. He was scouted as a Red Mark Contracted by Kim Hannah, indentured to Sinyoung in a slave-like contract but eventually became a spear-wielding Warrior who possessed a formidable strength despite his average talent and was even dubbed the 'Demon of the Battlefield'. The details about the rest of his life remain mostly unknown. Yet despite his strength, he ultimately still fell in humanity's last stand in Paradise, with his body charred beyond recognition. Towards the final moments of his life, Gula, one of the Seven Gods arrived, to grant him a wish for fulfilling his promise of barely surviving the battlefield that left him half-dead. What the goddess did not expect was Seol's ardent wish to turn back time and start over. However, he was fiercely rebuked by Gula and denied this wish, to which he asked for his emotions to be sent back instead. Even then, Gula was still unable to grant his wish, as Seol’s achievements were still not enough, requiring a dozen more feats like the one he had just accomplished, which had left him half dead. Left with no hope, he simply laughed sorrowfully and died. It was at this time that a mortally wounded Teresa Hussey, who had been spectating this conversation, intervened. Grateful to the Earthling who had fought and died like a dog, bargained with Gula to grants Seol’s wish, presenting the Royal Oath. Even Gula was surprised by her choice and determination and acquiesced, stating that she could not wait until she met the two of them once again. The Beginning After receiving the evanescent, fervent, and lamenting emotions of his former self, who had spent the rest of his life in the Lost Paradise, in the form of a dream, in a process that could only be described as a punch to the gut or the jump-start of a defibrillator, Seol's conscience was quite literally shocked back into reality. With the strong emotions of his first life coming to him as a dream, the events started to differ from his life when he met Kim Hannah. Instead of becoming a contracted for Sinyoung, he convinced her to give him the Gold Mark, which she received from Gula. After signing the contract with Hannah, he receives an invitation letter from her. Reading trough it, he finds out that he doesn't have much time left before he's teleported to Lost Paradise. Realizing some of the mistakes he had made, he withdraws the money, that he had previously borrowed from his ex girlfriend Yoo Seonhwa, and runs to her apartment. Seeing that nobody is home, he shoves the money into the mail slot on the door. Shortly afterwards, he was teleported to Paradise. Tutorial Seol wakes up in his room, feeling confused and thinking that it was all a dream, but he finds the invitation letter in his pocket. His smartphone starts vibrating and a robotic voice, coming from his smartphone, informs him that he need to arrive at the Assembly Hall within 10 minutes. By the entrance of the Hall he meets Maria Yeriel for the first time, she was one of the maids, responsible for guiding the players to their starting location. After being led by Maria to the Assembly Hall, Maria proceeds to tightly shut the Hall's door. Inside, he is greeted by Guide Han and the other participants. He notices that the number of participants is well over 30, however, there are only 8 chairs. It turns out that there are only 8 Invitees, with the rest being Contracted. As Seol is also an Invited, and the only Gold Mark, he takes one of the seats with the other Invited, where they receive special items. Unlike the other Invited, who receive Random Boxes (boxes that contain random things), Seol receives 3 Necessary Boxes (boxes that contain things necessary for the user). From the first Necessary Box, Seol's unknown Innate Ability evolves into Nine Eyes. First to be unlocked was the Green color - General Observation, after which he's able to see the Status Window of other users (something only Seol is able to do so far). The Green color also symbolizes the lack of danger to the user. With the second Box, he unlocks the left direction of his Nine Eyes. And from the third Box, he gets a Paper Talisman. He also receives 5,000 Survival Points, a Mark of Survival and the Diary of an Unknown Student. After receiving all of his items, the Tutorial's first mission officially begins. The objective of the first mission was to leave the Assembly Hall and gather on the second floor of a nearby school, the time limit was 4 hours. Shortly after, something starts to heavily pound on the door, from the sheer power of the impact, they realize that it is not something a normal human being can confront. The first one to react was Yi Seol-Ah, she takes her chair to the door to block it, after which others also start helping her barricade the door. Shortly after the barricade was built, the unknown enemy stops attacking the door and the Hall becomes quiet once again. People start arguing and planning their next moves, the Invited want to move by themselves, while the Contracted want to move in a group. While the argument is ongoing, the floor suddenly explodes and a lengthy and rotting arm shots out to grad Yi Seol-Ah by her hair proceeding to drag her down the newly-created hole. Yi Sungjin reacts first and grabs a hold of his sister, trying to pull her out of the hole, more people join in shortly after and there are now 10 or so people trying to pull her out. As they are trying to pull her out. she suddenly lets out a terrible shriek and her body gets torn apart in pieces, body parts and blood flying around the Assembly Hall. A human like monster appears from the hole - the Gaekgwi, and starts slaughtering the humans. People, including Seol, panic and start running towards the door, trying to remove the barricade and get out. Seol enters a trance and turns around to confront the monster, holding a broken edge of a chair's leg like a spear and pointing it towards the monster. Seeing the blaze in Seol's eyes, the monster gets scared and runs away. Neutral Zone TBA Haramark Forest of Denial Arden Fortress Mystery of Ramman Powers & Abilities As Seol's Traits section in his Status Window suggests under Aptitude, his talent was incredibly average; normal in every way. Only his unusual tenacity, willpower, and willingness to work harder than anyone else set him apart from everyone else. Because of his understanding of his disappointing ordinariness, he strived to put more effort into what he did than anyone else. Jang Maldong, his master, described him as the type who needed to be taught ten out of ten things, unable to learn ten from one, but would at least attempt to understand more than one thing. In his former life, perhaps precisely due to this persistence, he managed to achieve a level of formidable prowess as a spear-wielding Warrior; even as a Red Mark. In the end, he was capable enough to stand on the final battlefield and was ultimately known as the Demon of the Battlefield. For his starting point, Seol's base stats were beyond atrocious; a result of his unhealthy lifestyle and substance abuse. Compared to Yun Seora, who's stats averaged in the lower range of Low (High), and Kang Seok, whose stats were in the upper range of Low (High), his stats were absolutely terrible. They rated far below the standard of an ordinary citizen of Earth, averaging at Low (Low), apart from his Mana stat at Intermediate (High), which he was able to develop early as a result of his Innate Ability, Nine Eyes, awakening in his childhood. If not for him breaking his Magic Circuit, consequently losing the ability to use Nine Eyes, and letting his mana return to dormancy and regress, he could've surpassed the High (Low) boundary by the time he set foot into Paradise. Due to this abundance of mana that outranked even a majority of High Rank Warriors, Seol was capable of using his mana to supplement his physical capabilities; granting him the potential to overpower other earthlings two, or even three levels, higher than himself. In practice, this allowed him to stand his ground as a Level 1 against the Level 3 Olivier Salcido and a female Lioner, estimated to rival the strength of a Level 4. Under Agnes' recommendation, he always tried to learn and develop his Class Abilities without learning them through the use of Ability Points; allowing him to forge a considerable foundation for his future growth but also spend an equally considerable long amount of time to do so. Seol's weapon of choice was, of course, the spear; following the memory of himself in his previous lifetime, demonstrating a high prowess with it, and using just the three simple techniques of 'Thrust', 'Strike' and 'Cut' to slay a countless number of foes. However, the current Seol was unable to achieve it to this degree and was only able to mimic that level of spearmanship when allowed to adopt the right form. If interrupted, his skill plummeted and devolved into aimless flailing due to his lack of experience with adapting himself on the fly. Seol tended to demonstrate more of an instinctive thought pattern, particularly in combat. True to his short-tempered nature, he often acted before thinking things through clearly; at least until it was fixed through Jang Maldong's training. While meticulous in what details he knew and consistent in his practice, he generally failed to think outside the box without someone guiding him; and often attempted to bite off more than he could chew. Without the providence of Nine Eyes and Future Vision, despite the many people who praised and acknowledged his ability to plan, decide and lead, it was extremely likely that he would not have been able to achieve many of the feats he was widely known for without them. Due to both Nine Eyes and Future Vision intervening with the pattern of his growth, while massively pushing him forward, Seol suffered from a deep, twisted disharmony in the fundamental elements of his mind, technique, and body as a result. Seol's talent appeared to be exceedingly average and his mind was incomprehensibly chaotic, so, even though his technique seemed to be refined, he was unable to utilize it properly. On top of that, Seol had a powerful but also disproportionate amount of mana; which his undeveloped body was completely incapable of handling. Furthermore, despite having a perfect engine of mana, Seol's usage of it was completely inept; often simply pooling all his mana together to face the opponent, using quantity to face quality, instead of exerting a finer level of control over it. While mana may flow through the Circuits, it was his body that bore the brunt of the influence in the long term. The influence manifested in symptoms such as stomach knots, regular dizziness, or sudden losses of strength. This meant that any increase to Seol's mana was essentially poison to him and, as long as his current state of incongruity persisted due to it simply complicating the gap between his three fundamentals, he was a ticking time bomb. His own special abilities, that he had thought set himself apart from others, had, quite literally, begun to strangle him in return. Comparing him to a geometric shape, Jang Maldong stated that Seol would be a strange polygon with one or two vertices stretched out abnormally. He mentioned to Claire Agnes that, even if they abandoned molding Seol's mind and body up to par with his technique—thus drawing a line on his growth potential—he would still be able to become a High Ranker. If he had chosen the path of Magician, he and one of the Seven Gods said that with simply Seol's talents in his technique alone, he could become a Unique Ranker quite quickly. Despite having a limit if suppressed, Seol's limit was abnormally high and he had the potential to become an extraordinary diamond in the rough, but only if polished well with willpower that a human should be, in every sense of the word, incapable of. That is, unless they had repeatedly confronted multiple, life-threatening experiences. Incidentally, he was also a pretty good cook. Paraphernalia Equipment *'Festina Earring': An earring crafted out of silver in the shape of the Star of David with an ivory-colored jewel set in the center, possessing the「'Boost'」function. It was gifted to Seol by Flone as thanks for his display of kindness and respect.Chapter 59 When infused with mana, it enhanced the speed of the wielder by 1.5 times, lasting for one minute. In addition, it had three multiplicative by stackable charges that boosted Seol's speed up to 3.375 times and additively stacked the duration for up to three minutes. It automatically restored one charge every six hours and also had the property of being bound to the first person who wore it.Chapter 60 *'Blessing of the Circum': A bracelet artifact that was given to Seol by Flone in an attempt to console him.Chapter 90 When activated, it used the wielder's mana as energy to project three overlapping circular barriers, one gold, one red, and one blue in a triangular fashion, large enough to protect the face and upper chest of the user, and lasting a total of ten seconds. It was capable of blocking not only physical matter and magic but also spells carried out through divination and witchcraft, up to three times per day. This, however, could not be stacked. *'Pocket Belt': A black belt enchanted with a permanent「'Pocket'」magic allowing him to store two bags' worth of items. It was stolen from the royal treasury by Teresa and sneakily given to Seol as part of his reward for his contribution to the rescue mission in Delphinion Duchy and saving her.Chapter 100 *'Armor Set': An armor set consisting of a brigandine with a golden lining that came with a gorget and cuirass, small chainmail made from an unknown white metal, an ivory-colored leather jacket, reddish-brown leather pants, and stringed brown boots. It was sent to him by Kim Hannah in Chapter 111.Chapter 111 *'Promise of Temperance': A pendant engraved with a blue gemstone that emits a blue glow which turned black after housing Flone's spirit. It is said to be a fragment of the Seven Virtues, representing a 'promise' made with the God of Temperance, and stated to be on par with the Imperial Oath. It was a keepsake given to Flone by her mother before she passed it along to Seol.Chapter 136 Inventory *'Divine Stigmata': A marble that shines in a brilliant blue hue. It was bought from the VIP store in the Neutral Zone with the one-time use VIP store coupon obtained from clearing the 'Impossible' mission, which would've cost 300,000 Survival Points otherwise. It brands a person with a trace of divinity, allowing one to receive a god’s blessing, which would lead to one unlocking special classes and skillsets after passing the tribulations set by the god they chose. *'Divine Elixirs': Miraculous medicines bought from the VIP store in the Neutral Zone for 30,000 Survival Points each. Each elixir is able to increase their respective physical stats by one level. **Strength (1) **Endurance (1) **Agility (1) **Stamina (2) **Luck (1) *'Other Artifacts': Seol possesses a plethora of other artifacts, mostly those retrieved from Flone's tomb. Former * Sharp and Sturdy Spear: Seol's first spear bought from the Neutral Zone's armory for 580 Survival Points after discounts. Although it had no special features, its length nearly matched Seol's own height which he preferred. It was replaced with the silver-colored spear Seol bought at the end of the Neutral Zone but briefly saw a reappearance in Chapter 59 after the aforementioned weapon was destroyed before being quickly superseded by the Ice Spear. * Boiled Leather Armor: The best leather armor available in the Neutral Zone's armory, featuring an even balance between defense and mobility, with a cost of 5,700 Survival Points after discounts. It was crafted with leather repeatedly dipped in boiling paraffin oil for several hours, resulting in a stiff and reassuringly solid protection against cutting attacks but naturally substandard against blunt attacks. It was severely damaged during the escape from the Parasite base in Chapter 85 and later retired. * Light Chainmail: A smaller, lightened version of a proper chain mail, costing 6,900 Survival Points after discounts. While a bit small to call actual armor, only covering the shoulders to the navel, it was specifically designed for Magicians and Priests to wear under their robes while still retaining acceptable defensive capabilities. Severely damaged during he escape from the Parasite base in Chapter 85 and later retired. * Silver-colored Spear: A spear that shone with an arresting silver light. It was the most expensive spear in the Neutral Zone's armory and was bought by Seol just before he left, costing 22,500 Survival Points and 15,750 points after the Gold Mark discount. Due to its sheer quality, it could be used up to Level 3 if maintained well but was prematurely destroyed in Chapter 55 when Seol overloaded it with his monstrous amount of mana to resist the female Lioner's ambush; causing the weapon to shatter to pieces. As a result of this— with the assumption that Seol's Mana couldn't be that high—Ian Denzel mistakenly appraised it as a magic weapon. * Proof of Castitas: One of the tokens given by the ancient Empire to a saintess as proof of one’s chastity. It is an extremely rare, powerful and valuable crucifix artifact, capable of storing up to six holy spells as long as one wished with no cost; the equivalent power of a Level 6 Magician, and no limit to the number of times it could be used. It was given to him by Flone along with the Festina Earring. Seo Yuhui required it to advance to Level 8.Chapter 160 *'Proof of Devotion': A ring artifact that was given to a saintess by the ancient Empire as a symbolic gesture and token of their devotion. It was one of the many remaining burial accessories Seol obtained from Flone's tomb after he freed her for good. Seo Yuhui required it to advance to Level 8. *'Ice Spear': A magic spear imbued with「'Freezing'」magic and a minor, mind purifying effect. It was described as being a smooth, two-meter long spear that glowed in a faint blue hue with swirling ice-white, cold air surrounding the tip; appearing as if it were carved out of a block of ice. It was given to Seol by Teresa Hussey as a reward for his contributions in the defense of Arden Fortress.Chapter 65 It was broken by Seol when scaring off Unsightly Humility and Vulgar Chastity in chapter 180. Trivia * The characters of Seol's name when divided translate to: Seol (설) meaning 'snow', Ji (지) meaning 'steadfast' and Hu (후) meaning 'jade'. * Obtained a final score of 2150 in the Tutorial before modifiers and 26500 after applying them; the highest point tally in history. * Unlike Sung Shihyun who stubbornly refused the Magician class, the Seven Gods took a vote to decide his class between Warrior and Magician after hearing his request. It ended up a four to three vote after Gula voted in favor of a Warrior. * Caused the lead skeleton monster in the Neutral Zone's 'Breakthrough the siege and survive!' Hard mission, to kill itself by impaling its head on Seol's spear after being tormented as his training partner for several hours. Seol "affectionately" named it 'Skellie'. * He was constantly doubted to be as low-level as he was when he first left Scheherazade due to his unusually high combat prowess and intelligence. * Once joked with Alex that he was a Level 10 Spear God. * Managed to give both Claire Agnes and Chung Chohong new aliases in their Status Window after his constant teasing and pranking of the aforementioned two, and much to the ire of the former. * Often referred to as an Irregular, similar to Sung Shihyun, due to the monstrous speed of his growth. * He got repeatedly reprimanded and even slapped by Gula for complaining about the crude naming sense of his Classes. * Likes his Budae-jjigae—a kimchi soup filled with mostly various meats, known as the Korean Army Stew—really, really spicy. Flone violently disagreed. * His alias "The Adversary" came from his soaring popularity in the Federation after his win against the First Commander of Parasite Army, Undying Diligence. References Category:Characters Category:Earth Category:Male Category:Korea Category:Gold Mark Category:Carpe Diem Category:Warrior Category:Human